Saudi Scholar Offers Advice To Women Who Spy On Their Husbands' Phones

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Motlaq also had some money advice for wives in the Gulf kingdom, where women live with very few rights.

A top Islamic scholar in Saudi Arabia has advised women to stop checking on their husbands’ phones if they want to have a healthy relationship.

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Motlaq, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars and adviser to the Royal Court, said such acts of suspicion among couples are prohibited in Islam.

“About 20 percent of divorces in the kingdom are because husbands and wives search the others’ mobile phones,” he stated according to Arab News.

“These phones may contain bad things or trouble. Husbands and wives should stop such practices because they only lead to trouble and separation. They should trust each other so they will have a stable marital life,” he noted.

Further addressing women, Al-Motlaq added wives should also refrain from indulging in “wasteful expenditure” and “judiciously spend their husbands’ hard-earned money.”

Al-Motlaq’s statement might come across as misogynistic but such statements from religious scholars in the Persian Gulf are not uncommon. In fact, the advice comes only a month after an expat woman in neighboring United Arab Emirates was fined $41,000 and banished her from the country.

Her crime? She looked into her husband’s cell phone without his permission.

The woman had reportedly accused her husband of infidelity. In response, the man filed a complaint against her in an Ajman court, alleging his wife had transferred photos from his phone to hers without permission.

The woman admitted to the charges and was sentenced under the country’s privacy protection laws.